The Triangle of Prpl
by Triple Blade DCLXVI
Summary: When an ancient artefact was brought back to light, darkness was about to fall on Earl. ... Ok, let's relabel this: ZWEIesque rubbish, MariaXNatsuki, yuri, lemon, plush slippers, dragons, dungeons, explosions, Web 2.0
1. Chapter 1

In the vast wides of the galaxy, there was a small blue planet that was actually quite green but just looked blue from the distance because of all the water on it. And it betook itself, that on one beautiful day, a butterfly flapped its wings and - well, actually, this is completely irrelevant for this story, so let's direct our attention to another small blue planet that went by the name Duke or Count or something like that.

Under the glistening sun of the desert Grobi and the watchful eyes of an android, a horde of students was digging in the hot desert sand.

Meanwhile, Headmistress Natsuki Kruger was talking on the phone.

Back in the desert, Arika rammed her spade deep into the sand, letting out a joyous squeal when it hit something hidden deep down.

"Hey! I found something!"

"Really?! Let's see!"

Nina, Erstin, Lilie and Yayoi came running to her and helped digging, and in no time, they had freed from the sand - "A hair dryer?!"

Meanwhile, Headmistress Natsuki Kruger was talking on the phone.

Back in the desert, Arika rammed her spade deep into the sand, letting out a joyous squeal when it hit something hidden deep down.

"Hey! I found something!"

"Really?! Let's see!"

Nina, Erstin, Lilie and Yayoi came running to her and helped digging, and in no time, they had freed from the sand - "A comb?!"

The android who accidently also was a professor, came to them.

"No, it's not a comb. It... it's the Triangle of Prpl!"

"The Triangle of Prpl?"

"Yes, the Triangle of Prpl! This is serious businews!!! I have to call the headmistress immediately!"

Meanwhile, Headmistress Natsuki Kruger was talking on the phone.

Back in the desert, the android cursed and flailed his arms. "I only got the busy signal!"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews :) And yes, I'm very serious. About everything.

* * *

In the vast wides of the galaxy, there was a small blue planet that was actually quite green but just looked blue from the distance because of all the water on it. And it betook itself, that on one beautiful day, a butterfly flapped its wings and - yeah, I know I accidently said that this was irrelevant and I'm sorry, my mistake entirely. So, on this small blue planet, a butterfly flapped its wings and everyone knows that this can only lead to bad things. Very bad things.

In a small town in a small Asian island country, it led to really windy weather.

The wind swept cold and harshly over the grounds of Fuuka Academy, roughly tearing at the long, dark-blue hair of the little girl standing in front of the flower beds in the academy's garden. Her angelic face anger distorted, the little girl leaned towards the beautiful, delicate flowers swaying under the ruthless force of the wind, her porcelain hand reaching out, the slender fingers closing around silken petals, ready to rip them off when suddenly a clear, charismatic voice sounded from behind.

"You shouldn't do that."

Startled, the little girl let go of the flower and spun around to face the speaker of those words.

On the graveled path among the flower beds, there stood a tall woman clad in battle armour, with the beauty and grandeur of a Valkyrie descended straight from Valhalla, the short fair hair ruffled by the wind and the bright green eyes sparkling like emeralds. Her movements full of grace as she came nearer and continued in her heavenly voice, "Beautiful flowers are to be loved. For they're doing their best to bloom in their short lives."

And, agape and stunned, the blue-haired girl looked up to the entrancing being in front of her. "Who-who are are you?" she asked.

The Valkyrie bend down, her hand gently cupping the girl's cheek as her face drew nearer, and she softly answered, "I'm your mother, Natsuki."

"WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Her horrified scream still resounding in her head, Natsuki shot up into a sitting position, her heart hammering against her ribcage. With a trembling hand, she reached for the bedside lamp, being comforted by the warm light it spread across the room a second later. Pushing off the blanket, she quickly grabbed the alarm clock lying on the other side of the bed and hugged it tightly.

She hated those nightmares she always had when she was stressed out and Shizuru was gone. But well, it was probably no wonder after what had happended today, so let's quickly rewind to the morning!

It was a morning like every other: Natsuki was in her bureau, doing headmistressy things, like talking on the phone, or maybe also talking on the phone, and so it came that she was talking on the phone when suddenly Miss Maria entered the office, an ominous expression on her face and a piece of paper in her hand.

Without any ado, she walked up to Natsuki's desk and put the paper down for her to see, then jabbed at it with her forefinger. "This," she exclaimed, "is last month's telephone bill. You will notice this item here which makes more than ninety-five per cent of the total costs." Her forefinger tapping violently on the bill, she made a dramatic pause and set for the finishing blow. "Your long-distance calls."

When the headmistress just stared at her dumbfounded, the receiver limply in her half lowered hand, Miss Maria continued, "The board decided to not support these extravagant capers anymore and imposed a strict telephone ban on you for the rest of the month, becoming effective as of now."

"Wha-what?! Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm dead serious."

"Hey! You will _not_ do that!" yelled Natsuki and got off her chair when Maria went to the telephone socket in the wall and reached for the plug.

"Watch me." Mercilessly, the teacher pulled the plug before Natsuki got to her.

After sending an icy glare to the elderly woman, the headmistress fished a mobile out of her pocket and flipped it open with a smug grin. "I still have my cell phone."

Maria snatched it out of her hand. "Confiscated."

Dumbstruck by this mean behaviour, Natsuki stared at her in utter disbelief, her expression turning more and more into that of a hurt puppy.

Alas, the older woman was not in the least affected by this display of heart-melting, compassion-arousing cuddliness and her voice was as austere as always when she said, "I want you to come to my room with me."

That was when the wolf took over again and the younger Otome angrily crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What if I don't want to?" she replied snappishly, trying to pierce the other with her icy glare.

"You want to," was the adamant answer, also accompanied by an icy glare. And judging by the iciness of their glares, if Natsuki was the ice princess, Maria would be queen right now.

So the headmistress comforted herself with the thought that it was always the wiser head that gave in and eventually said, "Ok, I'm coming with you."

When they arrived at the instructor's mini apartment, Maria urged her to sit down on the small couch while insisting to prepare tea for them, friendly as if nothing had ever happened. And so a confused Natsuki was cluelessly waiting on the couch, watching how Maria placed one after the other saucers, cups, spoons and a sugar bowl on the coffee table in front of her, finally followed by a steaming pot of tea.

"Please help yourself," said the elderly Otome before scurrying back to the kitchenette.

The raven-haired woman poured some of the black tea into her cup and then reached for the sugar bowl, just when Maria came back with another saucer and sat down beside her.

Putting the saucer onto the table, the teacher asked, "Lemon?"

"No thanks," mumbled Natsuki, askant eying the halved citrus fruit Maria had just brought, reflexly pouring more sugar into her cup when she witnessed how the older woman squeezed the lemon juice into her own tea.

After taking a sip from the tea and almost burning her tongue, the headmistress asked, "So why are we here?"

Maria slowly drank from her cup before putting it down again and turning her head to her. "Gerald Roberts is back."

"_Gerald Roberts?!_" Natsuki almost spilled her tea. "How could this happen?!"

"We don't know yet, Dr. Helene and a team of translators are currently investigating this matter."

Nervously biting her lower lip, Natsuki stared into the cup in her hands. "This is bad." She thought for a moment and then looked questioningly at Maria. "But still... I don't understand why you couldn't have told me about this in my office."

The gray-haired woman took a deep breath before answering in a grave voice, "There is also something else we have to talk about."

Sitting in her bed, Natsuki hugged the alarm clock a bit tighter. She should have known that something fishy was going on when Miss Maria had come into her bureau and shoved a recipe for green tea cake onto her desk.

Shizuru would be so mad when she'd come back and got to hear about this. She might even spank her. A smile flitted over Natsuki's features at that thought but she quickly fell back into brooding.

For this was not even half the trouble they were in now.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews!

Hm, I also wanted to say something else, but I forgot. Good for you.

* * *

In the barren wides of one of Earl's deserts, on top of a barren mountain ridge, there stood a tall woman clad in battle armour silhouetted against the horizon, the purple cape of her robe and the long chestnut hair flowing in the rough desert wind, and if she had moved, her movements would have been full of grace. But she didn't move, she was talking on the phone. Oh wait, she wasn't doing that either. And _that_ was the problem here.

Her morning call with Natsuki had been disrupted by The Powers That Be and now she couldn't get a connection to her anymore, not even to her mobile. And when she wanted to call tech support aka Yohko and ask what the hell was going on, all she got was the answering machine.

Seriously pissed, the Graceful Amethyst put her mobile away and gracefully walked to the edge of the rock ridge where she jumped into the depths.

A step that would have been almost fatal for any other maid but not the ones wearing colourful capes!

Spreading her cape and arms in a graceful motion, she stopped her fall in mid-air, hovering there for a moment before she made a horizontal two and a half twist, followed by a reverse three somersault and a half back flip, eventually going into a straight dive which she caught a few metres above the ground, redirecting the impetus of the dive forward, zooming off towards her destination.

Earlier that day, at a provisional camp site in one of the other deserts, a cyborg who had accidently been called an android in the first chapter and a group of students were standing under the roof of a gazebo protecting them from the hot desert sun and trying to do the same as the Graceful Amethyst: calling tech support when they found the Headmistress unavailable.

"Thank you for calling Gerald Roberts Research Centre. None of our lines is currently busy but there is no one here who could answer your call. If you want to know all about our latest products and inventions that will make the Earl a happier place, please press - one. ... If you encountered problems with one of our products, please consider the possibility that the problem might not be one of our products, otherwise press - two. ... If you want to wait for the unlikely event that one of our agents might return to the phone soon, please press - three. ... If you just want to listen to some music, please press - three. Or two. ... If you want to hear this message again, plea-"

"GAH! It's no use!" exclaimed Gal, flailing his metallic arms and spinning his halo. "All I get is this stupid answering machine! Something's terribly wrong here!"

The students had been silently waiting and watching how the professor tried to make his phone calls, but now Arika made a step forward and asked, "What exactly is this Triangle of Prpl, Gal-san?"

The professor turned his photo receptors to her, thinking for a moment before he answered, "Well... long story short, the existence of the triangle could mean the end of the world as we know it." He lightly tapped his forefinger against what would have been his chin, thinking some more before continuing, "I better call Leader for back-up and then we should get the hell out of here. I'll tell you the whole story on the way home, but for now start striking your tents, please."

And so that was what the Corals were doing while the professor had a more or less short talk with Midori and then went inside the military truck that had brought them here. Just when they wanted to stow away the folded tents, Gal came out again, hiding something in his hands behind his back.

"Excuse me for a minute, I have to go and find a tree," he said and scurried off, disappearing behind the next dune, leaving a group of dumbfounded girls behind.

It took a while before the first of them spoke. "What does he want with a tree now?" muttered Arika and Nina gave her a frowning look.

"I... I didn't know cyborgs have to do such things," mumbled Erstin, still taken aback, adding, "Doesn't he know there's a camping toilet in the truck?"

Nina wanted to answer something witty, but then she spotted a small, flying vehicle at the horizon, approaching them fast. "Someone's coming! The triangle!" she shouted and they hurried back into the gazebo, where the triangle was lying unguarded on a camping table.

As the vehicle was coming nearer, they recognised it as a silvery hover bike ridden by a single person.

The bike stopped a few metres in front of the gazebo and a tall man got off, revealing his short blonde hair as he removed the helmet and put it on the seat. The stranger came towards them with sure steps and a fake smile on his lips. Absolutely everything about him was saying "villain" in capitalised, blinking letters.

"Hi! My name's John Smith, I'm sure you've seen me before. I'm a famous actor and have been in many anime series, like Mai HiME, or also Mai Otome, for instance." His smile faded a bit when the girls just blankly stared at him. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Anyway, I heard you found something that belongs to me, so I've come to pick it up."

Nina gave him a hostile glare. "We don't know wha-"

"We won't hand the Triangle of Prpl over to you!" exclaimed Arika, taking the triangle off the table and pressing it protectively against her chest.

Nina fought back the urge to smack her and the strange stranger levelled up his smile again.

"Ah, there it is, my beloved triangle! Now, return it to me, please," he said, stretching his hand expectantly towards Arika.

"No." Clutching the triangle, the auburn-haired girl backed away, stopped by the camping table behind.

The smile disappeared completely from the villain's face and suddenly, he was holding a gun in his hands, pointing it at Arika. "When I was asking... I wasn't asking," he said with as voice as cold as ice can get in a desert. "Now give it to me." He slowly walked towards Arika and the other girls moved away from her.

"Arika!" shouted Nina suddenly, hopping up and own and waving her arms at a few metres distance. "Passu!"

The auburn-haired girl reacted immediately with a fast but slightly inaccurate chest pass and Smith could do nothing but follow the flight of the triangle with his eyes, watching how Nina jumped up and snatched it out of the air.

His inattentiveness did cost him dearly when Arika made a well-aimed roundhouse kick against his hand, sending his gun on a flight as well.

The gun landed a few metres away in the sand, not far from Erstin, and the blonde Otome picked it up without hesitating much, pointing it at Smith who had gone after the weapon.

However, this threat didn't impress the villain at all. Complacently smiling, he came towards Erstin, and with a frosty voice he said, "Oh no, Miss Ho, you won't shoot me."

"I- I wouldn't be so sure about that," answered the girl, her voice trembling, and she slowly backed away, the gun unsteady in her hands.

Smith let out a nasty laugh. "The gun has a biometric grip safety, it won't fire unless I'm the one pressing it down. But you couldn't know that, Miss Ho, could you?"

Faltering at his words, Erstin lowered the weapon, her expression that of a deer in the headlight as the tall man was still coming closer.

"Give me the gun."

"Ers!"

Arika's shout snapped her out of her stupor, and Erstin quickly threw the weapon over to her friend, out of the villain's reach.

For a moment, Smith looked as if he was going to smack her down, but then he just hissed, "This will have consequences, Miss Ho."

Instead of going after the gun again, he changed priorities and decided to get the triangle back from Nina, who had come nearer to help Erstin as well.

As she noticed that Smith was about to come after her, Nina started to run backwards, shouting, "Arika!" again.

Arika didn't hesitate to throw the gun into her direction, realising too late that the dark-haired Otome didn't want the weapon, but had rather wanted to tell her that she was passing the artefact back to her.

And so it came that both the triangle and the gun were flying through the air again, spinning past each other, the triangle landing safely in Arika's hands, the gun landing also very safely in Mr. Smith's hands.

"Thank you," he said. "And now the triangle, please."

"Run, Arika, run!" shouted Nina.

And that was what the auburn-haired girl did. She didn't know where to run, but away from Smith seemed to be a good direction.

She had not come very far when she could hear the low "vroom" sound of Smith's hover bike behind her and she almost started to panic, knowing well that it was only a matter of seconds until he would catch her.

But just when she thought everything was over now, Gal appeared on top of the next dune. "Arika, the triangle!" he shouted, speeding towards her.

Without hesitation, the Otome threw the artefact to him, and the cyborg catched it easily.

Making a half turn, Gal skated away again, and Arika watched how Smith was chasing him up and down the neighbouring dunes yet unable to catch the cyborg. But suddenly, Gal tripped, throwing his arms into the air and also the triangle, landing face down in the sand.

The Otome started to run, yet knowing that she would not be there in time, condemned to just watch how Smith picked up the triangle from the ground and then disappeared in the distance.

When she reached him, the cyborg was sitting dizzily in the sand, muttering, "Got sand into the ball bearings, again. I should have switched to tank tracks."

"Gal-san, are you alright?" asked the Otome, worried.

"No, but we're all doomed now," was his gloomy answer. "I'm just more doomed when Leader gets here."

Meanwhile, in the other desert, the Graceful Amethyst was standing inside an enormous crater, skeptically eying her surroundings. On first glance, this seemed to be just like all the other sites Yohko had sent her so far. And yet, she had the vague notion that something was different here, although she could not quite pin down what it was, but... yes, the background music had changed. It was louder now, more erratic, portentous. Something bad was about to happen very soon, no doubt.

Shizuru looked around, suddenly having the feeling that someone was watching her, and yes, there was a long shadow on the sandy ground behind her. Turning her gaze up to the sky, she caught her breath.

A large, winged, human-like being was hovering above the crater, a pitch black silhouette against the blazing sun, and the Otome blinked and shielded her eyes with one hand to get a better view as the figure came closer. The mysterious creature was of a strange black matter that seemed to absorb everything around, even the sunlight, and appeared to be alive and dead at the same time.

The Pillar was abruptly torn out of her marvelling when the being suddenly emitted a thin ray of light, from where one of the eyes would have been, aimed at her, and she just managed to jump aside in time, barely evading the beam. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the hole it had burnt into the sand, a small cloud of steam rising out of it and dispersing in the air.

She turned her eyes back to the demonic being just in time, seeing it attacking again, hopping sideways to escape the disastrous power of its laser. Then she leaped up in the air, at the same time extending the upper blade of her double katana to its chain form, lashing at the creature.

But the demon dodged the chain of blades, strangely predicting its snaky movements, and Shizuru had to evade several laser beams, making it impossible to get closer to her opponent and harder to aim precisely. And if the deadly rays were not weapon enough, the demon was suddenly materialising some kind of halberd out of thin air.

Again, Shizuru flung the chain at it from the side, but the creature blocked her attack with its newly acquired weapon, and instead of ripping both halberd and being apart, the chain wrapped itself around the halberd's staff. Before she could retract the chain again, the being was already whirling her around at it, bringing her completely out of balance, eventually slamming her against the wall of the crater.

The force of the impact rendered her almost senseless, the enormous pain immobilising her momentarily, and when the creature was shooting at her again, she wasn't able to escape the beam in time.

The red laser hit her torso and a burning sensation was surging through her veins, spreading like a bush fire, and with horror she noticed that it was paralysing her, devouring all life in its course, and she saw her hand turning to stone before she lost her sense of vision. Her nano machines eventually broke down, and the last thing she felt was that she was falling, fast, plunging down, crashing hard onto the rocky ground of the crater, the force of the impact causing little cracks in her surface. Oh my, that's the wrong script.

Again, the Graceful Amethyst flung the chain at the demon from the side, but it blocked her attack with its newly acquired weapon, and instead of ripping both halberd and being apart, the chain wrapped itself around the halberd's staff. Before she could retract the chain again, the being was already whirling her around at it, bringing her completely out of balance, eventually slamming her against the wall of the crater.

Most of the impact was absorbed by the nano machines, but the shock was still strong enough to paralyse her momentarily, and when the figure was shooting at her again, she was too slow to fully evade the laser and in the last second, she raised her double katana, using it as a shield. When the ray hit the upper blade, its force almost slammed her back against the wall again, but to her relief, the beam got deflected, leaving her unharmed. The contact with the laser must have heated up her weapon considerably, she could even feel it in the leather-bandaged grips; she would probably not be able to deflect the rays an infinite number of times.

Once again, the demon tried to fry her with its laser, but now that she had recovered a bit from the crash she could easily dodge the attack. She extended the upper blade again, flinging the chain at the creature. But shortly before it would have reached her opponent, she let it snap back, at the same time extending the other blade, hurling it in a diagonal upward movement. The demon didn't see it coming, screeching in a high-pitched voice as the small blades were ripping through its body, cutting it in half. Slashing it again and again as Shizuru let the chain swiftly dance in the air, all in the blink of a second.

The pieces of the demon's torn body fell down, turning into green sparkles before they even hit the ground.

As the fight was over, the Graceful Amethyst decided that she really needed a tea now and quickly left the creepy place.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews :D

P.S.: I'm sorry.

P.P.S.: Count Duckula rocks. As does Mary Poppins.

* * *

"There seems to be some confusion about the plot and what did happen so far, and so, to clear things up for you and also to prove that there is indeed a madness in my system, Ms Steinberg here will be so kind as to elucidate the past events."

I give Ms Steinberg beside me an encouraging nod, and she turns to the blackboard.

"What did we learn so far?" she asks while capturing the words in large, white letters.

"**1:** The Triangle of Prpl was found─this is bad. Why exactly, we will find out in this chapter.

"**2:** Natsuki was forbidden to talk on the phone─this is bad, too, now she has to find something else to do during the rest of the story. Bummer.

"**3:** Ms Graceburt likes her tea with lemon─this is dis─well... everyone to their likings.

"**4:** John Smith is an asshole─well, we already knew that...

"**5:** Shizuru was almost turned to stone─this is good, because in the end, she wasn't. Meaning she's still around, kicking ass and having really hot tea with Natsuki."

"Thank you, Ms Steinberg. And now we will continue with today's installment."

* * *

It was a morning like every other: Natsuki was in her bureau, doing headmistressy things, like... folding little blue origami dogs, when a strong gust of wind came in through the open balcony door and messed up the papers on her desk.

Annoyed and with furrowed brows, she got up and walked over to the door, wondering where the stormy weather had come from all of a sudden. The knob in her hand, just about to close the door, glaring at the dark clouds in the sky, she suddenly saw─NO SHIT!─a woman flying with an umbrella, a carpet bag in the other hand.

And, stunned and agape, Natsuki watched how the woman, who emerged as no one else but Miss Maria wearing an old-fashioned dress and jacket, was landing on her balcony. The teacher folded up her umbrella and then came towards her with measured steps, the heels of her boots click-clacking on the tiled balcony floor.

"Close your mouth please, Headmistress, we are not a codfish," she said in a reprimanding voice to the still gaping Natsuki as she stood before her, and the raven-haired woman quickly did so. "Now, won't you let me in?"

"Um, come in please?" replied Natsuki confused, stepping aside.

"Thank you."

The older woman entered the office and the headmistress closed the door after her, mystified watching how Maria put down the carpet bag in the middle of the room and took off her gloves, eyeing her surroundings as if this was the first time she had been here.

"So... what brings you here?" asked Natsuki carefully.

Miss Maria turned to her, surprised. "You did advertise for a nanny, did you not?"

"Wha-what?!"

Maria fished a neatly folded paper out of her jacket's pocket and opened it, holding it for Natsuki to see. "Here."

The headmistress snatched it out of her hand, brows furrowing as she recognised the offending piece of pressed wood. "Where did you get that from?!" she snarled. "I thought I tore it up and burnt it along with the rest of that bitch's abominable stuff!"

"Excuse me?" Raising a brow, Maria took the paper back. "Are you ill?"

"I hope not."

The elderly woman gave her a scrutinising look before she glanced back at the paper and continued, "Now then, the qualifications. Item one: a cheery disposition. I am never cross. Item two: rosy cheeks. Obviously. Item three: play games, all sorts."

At that, Maria came closer─way too close for Natsuki's liking, and yet she was unable to move as those light green eyes were intensely gazing into her own, darker ones, and a hand reached out, lightly caressing her cheek.

"Oh Headmistress," whispered Maria softly, "I'm sure you will find my games extremely─" She made a rhetoric pause and gave Natsuki a meaningful wink. "─_diverting._"

With a horrified yelp, the younger woman backed away, bumping against the desk, in turn knocking something over which crashed with a loud bang onto the floor.

Startled by the sudden sound, Natsuki shot up into a sitting position, her heart hammering against her ribcage, her eyes registering the familiar and comforting surroundings of her bed. The nighstand lamp was still on, its warm light mixing with the pale one of dawn creeping in from behind the curtains.

Dizzily looking around, she noticed her alarm clock was gone. A more thourough investigation then revealed its new position on the bedroom floor. Half leaning out of the bed, she picked it up, checking the time. 6:28─still more than half an hour before she would have to finally get up.

Afraid of the dreams the short rest of the night might bring if she fell asleep again, Natsuki decided that she'd better get out of the bed now and have a hot cup of tea.

* * *

_Enter Ms Steinberg._

"To avoid further confusion, I'm here to tell you that everything that has happened so far, happened on one day... Well, not every-everything, but the events in this story. Some of the events in this story. Anyway, this shall mark the end of the events of the first day and the beginning of a new morning."

_Exit Ms Steinberg._

* * *

It was a morning like every other: Natsuki was in her bureau, doing headmistressy things, like... folding little purple origami snakes, when a strong gust of wind came in through the open balcony door and messed up the papers on her desk.

Annoyed and with furrowed brows, she got up and walked over to the door, wondering where the stormy weather had come from all of a sudden. Reaching for the doorhandle, she suddenly had a very strong deja-vu feeling and, forboding creeping over her, she looked up at the darkened sky.

And when she saw the silhouette of a woman with an umbrella and a bag in her hand against the clouds, she did the next best thing that came into her mind: She quickly closed the door and dived under her desk, hiding in the farthest corner, hoping that the woman would think no one was here and leave again.

But to her dismay, the balcony door was opened again shortly later─she had forgotten to lock it!

She heard the person entering and closing the door, and then a familiar rhythm of footsteps on the carpet floor, approaching, hesitantly, then stopping.

"Natsuki?"

Shizuru's voice sounded worried and confused, and quickly and with a beetred face, Natsuki came out from under the desk, just when the other was putting down her travel bag and umbrella.

"Natsuki." A smile spread across the older Pillar's face as she spotted her, her voice warm and resonating with affection, and even though Natsuki had been here all the time, she suddenly felt as if she was the one who had just come home from a long trip. "What were you doing down there?" asked Shizuru puzzled while coming towards her, and, if that was possible, the raven-haired Otome's cheeks took on an even deeper shade of red.

"I... um... I... was looking for my pen! Damn thing keeps disappearing! All the time! I turn around and─_woosh!_─it's gone!" explained Natsuki, wildly gesticulating.

"But it's right there, on your desk," came Shizuru's surprised reply.

"Right... ahum... that's why I couldn't find it! Down there... ahem..."

"Are you feeling alright?" asked the brunette, the crimson eyes full of concern at her unusual behaviour.

A piteous "No," escaped Natsuki's lips and she lunged into Shizuru's arms, hugging her tightly and burying her face in the silky locks, sighing softly when the older wrapped her arms around her, holding her protectively. "But I'm feeling much better now that you're here," she mumbled, nuzzling her neck.

"What happened?" whispered Shizuru worried, her hand idly rubbing her love's shoulder. "I tried to call you numerous times, but─"

"Later," whispered Natsuki quickly, disentangling herself out of Shizuru's embrace, and prevented her from talking on by sealing her lips with her own. "We have to go now," she said then, taking the chestnut-haired woman by the hand and leading her to the door.

"We have to go now? Where?"

With a mysterious smile, Natsuki led her out of the room and into the corridor. "To the extraordinary meeting about the Triangle of Prpl!"

"The Triangle of Prpl? What's that?"

The smile vanished from the headmistress' face. "Um... I don't know. But that's what the meeting's for!"

"Huh... and I thought there would be a meeting about the mysterious shadow creature."

"The mysterious shadow creature? What's that?"

"I don't know... I hope Yohko will explain that."

"I see... Well, then we should hurry and get to the lab!"

And so they hurried over to the building that housed Garderobe's large research facilities.

They were already in the corridor leading towards the lab when, ahead of them, a tall cloaked figure was casually leaning with the back against the wall, the arms folded, one leg propped against the wall as well, and if this had been a Western, a cowboy hat would have been covering the metallic face.

As they were nearing, Rad swiftly pushed himself off the wall, gliding into the middle of the corridor with a turn, striking a pose and blocking the way, his cloak dramatically flowing in the wind that was coming from somewhere.

"Shizuru Viola!" he thundered. "I was quite impressed by your last performance and I won't let you leave without a reprise!"

And just when Shizuru was about to put on her happy face, Natsuki grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry, but she has no time today," said the headmistress while dragging a now Struggling and Pouting Amethyst past the cyborg. "First work, then fun," she went on, pulling her further down the corridor. "Plus, he's challenging you every friggin' week! It's getting ridiculous!" she continued her rant, adding, "And he looks soo silly in a kimono!"

"I don't understand what you have against him," argued Shizuru. "I think he's a man of taste."

"Bad taste, I dare say. And he's not a man!"

"Well, until he makes an official announcement, we should refer to him as one, don't you think?"

"I meant he's a cyborg."

"Oh."

When they eventually reached the lab, the others were already waiting for them. The others being Yohko and Gal standing in front of a whiteboard, Midori sitting in the first of two rows of chairs set up in front of the board, and Irina, Arika and Nina in the second row, and also Lilie and Yayoi to have some more students.

"Ah, Headmistress, Meister Viola, you're here, we can begin now," said Yohko, greeting them with a smile. "Please have a seat," she added, pointing to the chairs.

And so Shizuru and Natsuki sat down on two empty seats in the front row while Yohko went on, "Gal-san will be so kind and inform everyone about yesterday's events concerning the Triangle of Prpl." Then she took a seat between Midori and Natsuki.

"Ahem, yes." Gal cleared his imaginative throat and pulled a paper out of his coat's pocket, harrumphing once more before starting to speak. "Yesterday, at approximately 9:30, the here present students minus Irina plus Erstin, as well as my humble self, did find an artefact at the excavation site XSS located in the Desert Grobi, which I identified as the legendary Triangle of Prpl. Approximately one three-quarter hour later, the Triangle of Prpl was abstracted again by a Mr Smith." Clearing his throat again, he declared, "That's all. Any questions?"

Shizuru, suddenly very attentive, forgot to pout and eagerly raised her hand.

"Yes, Meister Viola?"

"Did he say something about Mrs Smith?"

"SHIZURU!" Natsuki turned her head, angrily looking at her.

"What?! Now I'm not even allowed to ask questions?"

"No! Not questions like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like _that._" Natsuki gave her one last upset glance, before folding her arms and looking ahead again. "And besides, _I'm_ the headmistress, it's _my_ job to ask questions and such, it says so in the description."

"Ahem, well, Headmistress, then please ask your question," said Gal quickly to prevent any further quarrel, adding a half whispered, "I don't think there's a Mrs Smith in this story, Meister Viola."

"Well then..." Natsuki cleared her throat and asked, "Could you please elaborate on how exactly it came to the loss of the triangle?"

"Umm... no. I don't want to."

"Oh, come on, Gal," threw Midori in. "Please let us all know what exactly happened."

"Ah, well, umm... What exactly happened... What exactly happened... I don't know." Gal nervously brushed over his coat-like clothes, removing imaginary dust. He gave out a weird, mechanical laugh. "But this is actually rather unimportant, isn't it? The triangle was lost again, that's all there is to know, isn't it?"

Midori looked angrily at him. "No, it's not."

Under Midori's angry and the expectant and curious looks of the others, Gal fidgeted with his clothes before he burst out, "Ok! So I don't know what exactly happened! So I left the camp and the girls and the triangle alone! So I had to perform an urgent oil change and didn't want to do it in presence of the girls! There! Sue me!" Agitated and not waiting for a reply, he rushed to the door, exclaiming, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the corridor, sulking! Or playing patience with Rad!" Then he stormed out and slammed the door shut.

"Well, so now we know," mumbled Yohko, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them after Gal's sudden leave. Turning to Midori, she added, "You could have handled that a bit more tactfully, don't you think?"

"Bah!" uttered Midori and folded her arms. "It's his fault that the Triangle of Prpl is now in the hands of Schwarz! This is the worst thing that could have happened!"

"Maybe it is about time you explain what this Triangle of Prpl is, actually," said Shizuru in her calm voice.

"Yes, that would be best," agreed Natsuki.

"To explain what the Triangle of Prpl is," said Yohko, "one has to go far back in time, as far as to the beginning of history itself."

Midori nodded and got up. "And since I'm a history teacher in a parallel universe, the explanation thing will be my job."

This said, she took her chair out of the row and dragged it right in front of the whiteboard. Then she shortly disappeared from the stage and when she came back, she was pushing in a desk on rolls before her. She stopped the desk in front of the whiteboard as well and arrested the rolls.

Once all was set up, she took her place behind the desk and picked up the thick book that had been lying on its top. Opening it, she cast one last glance at the audience and then began with her tale.

"In the beginning, long before man even set foot on Earl, large, powerful beasts walked the planet's surface and the dragons ruled the land.

"When the first settlers arrived here, they soon discovered that some of them were able to control those beasts by means of their will alone. Beast Masters was what people called them─the Gifted Ones─worshipped and feared for the powers they held. And yet, only very few Gifted Ones were strong enough to control a dragon's mind.

"This was about to change when one of the influential alchemist guilds in the north found ways to render their will to them through means of spiritually enhanced gemstones. (Well, everyone knows dragons have a soft spot for shiny, sparkly things and donkeys.)

"It was the beginning of the Dark Age, the age of the Dragon Lords' reign of fear and destruction, and almost all of Earl was their dominion.

"Their strife for wisdom and enlightenment, their unsatable thirst for power, they spawned the creation of half and fully mechanical beasts─SLAVEs─designed solely for battle. Their aim: to kill─the beasts, their masters and everyone else who dared to oppose the Lords' will.

"More than a century passed under the tyrannic rulers before the surviving Gifted Ones, who had been scattered all across the lands in the course of the hunt on them, gathered and joined forces to once and for all put an end to the Dragon Lords' sable machinations.

"Under the leadership of the Beast Master Oswald, they struck back, battering down the rows of SLAVEs and dragons in various fights until only one Dragon Lord was standing, the most powerful of them all: Lord Kokuyou, master of the mighty firedrake Kagutsuchi.

"In the legendary Battle of Nifldale, the Beast Masters fought the evil Dragon Lord and defeated his gruesome army right in front of his castle's gates.

"Lord Kokuyou attempted to flee, but Oswald himself took on the pursuit with his flying unicorn Swiftwind and they didn't even come as far as the mountain range enclosing the valley. His wings severely injured by Swiftwind's horn, Kagutsuchi fell from the sky, razing down a coppice while crashing onto the ground.

"Unlike his firedrake, who had been rendered unconscious by the fall, Lord Kokuyou remained fairly unharmed, and only after a long and strainous fight did Oswald manage to slay the evil Lord and get hold of his mythical sword, Mirokku.

"Just in time, because Kagutsuchi was about to wake up again. Well aware that the firedrake─even though he was weakened by his wounds─was far too powerful to be killed by any man, Oswald did the only thing that there was to do.

"Before Kagutsuchi could regain consciousness, Oswald rammed Mirokku through his jaws, thereby sealing his magic powers. Then, with an awe-inspiring displacement spell, the Beast Master banished the dragon into one of the nine hell dimensions.

"And thus, the world was freed from the Dragon Lords' terror!" ended Midori with a triumphant cry, looking back at the audience before her. "Hey! Were you even listening?!"

"Yes, of course," said Yohko, putting away the scientific magazine she had been reading.

"Nnn... sure." Shizuru reluctantly removed herself from Natsuki and sat properly down on her own chair again.

Irina, the only one in the last row who wasn't sleeping, leaned forward and held out a big paper cup. "Popcorn?"

"Oh yes, thank you," said Natsuki, taking the cup from her, and popped a handful of the snack into her mouth, munching happily until she caught Midori's glare. With a sheepish smile, she held the cup towards the Aswald leader. "Bobgorn?"

"No, dammit!" hollered Midori. "You guys are enjoying yourselves while I'm talking about really important stuff here!"

With a yawn, Arika in the back row opened her eyes. "But you still haven't told us about the Triangle of Prpl!"

"I haven't?" The red-headed woman's angry expression turned into a pensive one.

"No."

"Oh. Let's see..." Midori leafed through the book, skimming over the pages, and stopped near the end. "Oh yes, it continues here. Ahem..."

"When Oswald banned the mighty firedrake Kagutsuchi into the hell dimension, he made one dear mistake and did not take into account the immense power the last Dragon Lord held even in death. The sword that he had forged─Mirokku─was probably the only weapon that could have bound the dragon, but it was also the one tool that could set him free again.

"Even though Kagutsuchi is caught in another dimension, the sword stuck in his jaws is still strongly connected with this world, allowing the dragon to be summoned by means of a secret rite which can only be performed every 300 years when the full moon is in the eighth house of Aquarius.

"During that time, the magical light of the moon is of such nature that, if it is bundled, it is strong enough to reach the dragon and guide him back into our world.

"The transmitter is the Damn Device hidden in the Sacred Grotto of Otto. It has to be activated with a special, unique key hat was forged out of the same block of steel as was Mirokku: the Triangle of Prpl."

Midori looked up from the book again, this time at a very quiet audience that was lost in thought.

Natsuki was the first to speak. "And the Schwarz are...?"

"The piteous descendants of a long ago demolished dynasty of tyrants and their minions!" spat Midori.

"And yet," remarked Shizuru quietly, "Oswald's proud children did sink as low as to collaborate with them 15 years ago."

Midori's eyes turned to slits as they bored into the crimson ones across the room and she replied in an icy voice, "Sometimes circumstances require one to act against one's pride and principles. Is it not so, Meister Viola?"

At those words, the usually so well-composed visage of the Graceful Amethyst cracked for a moment, and─her hands clutching the seat of her chair so hard that the knuckles turned white, her eyes boring into Midori's─she leaned forward, a dark purple aura of doom ascending around her.

But just when she was about to snap back, Natsuki's hand lay itself appeasingly on hers and Yohko's nervous laugh was heard.

"Now, now," said the doctor hastily, "we don't want to dig up unpleasant things that belong to the past, do we? We need to focus on present matters now." Her eyes darted between the two squabblers and then were pleadingly set upon her red-headed friend. "And please, no fighting in my lab! Go outside if you absolutely have to!"

"Pffft." Midori ended the staring contest with Shizuru and folded her arms, but could not refrain herself from adding a, "She started it."

Shizuru, about to entwine her fingers with Natsuki's, glowered back at her, the Purple Aura of Doom blazing up again as she was clenching her hands and─

"OW!"

At Natsuki's pained outcry, Shizuru's head spun around to her, the Purple Aura of Doom disappearing immediately, the quarrel with Midori completely forgotten, and she quickly let go of her beloved's hand. "Natsuki...?" she asked in shock.

"Ow...," whined Natsuki, erratically shaking her hand, stretching and curling the fingers as if to test if she could still move them.

Her distressed face ashen pale, Shizuru tentatively reached for her love. "I'm sorry Natsuki," she whispered hoarsely, "I never meant to hurt you, I─"

"It's ok," said Natsuki, trying to fight back the tears of pain. "It's ok," she repeated and a faint, reassuring smile appeared on her lips as Shizuru carefully took the hurt hand into her own, her fingers lightly caressing it. Looking into those sorrowful crimson eyes, Natsuki laid her other hand on Shizuru's, holding them in return, and leaned closer. "It's ok," she whispered again, placing a soft peck on her lips.

But when she wanted to pull away, Shizuru followed her movement and captured her lips again, inching nearer.

Closing her eyes, Natsuki was about to lose herself in the heavenly feeling, when the loud metallic bang of the lab door being abruptly opened snapped her back into reality. Letting go of Shizuru, she glared at the source of her annoyance.

It was no one else but Rad, his impressive figure filling the door frame as he was striking a pose, his cape dramatically flowing in the wind that was coming from somewhere.

And just when Natsuki wanted to unload all her anger upon him, the upset voice of Gal could be heard.

"Dammit Rad, you're blocking the way again!" it sounded from behind the big cyborg, and then, slightly pushing the other aside, Gal came scurrying into the lab. "You guys can't get anything right when I'm not around!" he wailed, gesticulating with his arms.

Then, while slowly skating into the middle of the room, he intoned, "You might think this another boring love story, but we're doing it a different way... We're doing it a different way-ayyy..."

With a snappy leap, he jumped onto Midori's desk and turned to the audience, spreading his arms wide open and singing at the top of his lungs, "IIII'll show you how to take me _go down, go down!_ Uoh-oh and III'll show you how to tuurn me _right on, right on!_ Uoh-oh and III'll show you how to touch meeey... _Right on, right on, right on! Right on, righ─_"

"Get off my desk."

"Wha-what?" Confused and completely knocked out of his stride by the icy command, Gal turned to Midori behind him.

_"Now,"_ she growled, her eyes narrowing.

"Umm..." The cyborg gulped nervously. "Ok!" he uttered then, quickly jumping off the desk.

"I take it my presence is still not favoured," he continued snippily. "Well then! If you need me, you shall find me sulking in the corridor!" With large strides, he rolled to the door. "Come Rad," he said, and pulled the other after him as he left the room.

"Well now, where were we...," mumbled Midori behind her desk, absentmindedly skimming through the book again.

"The Damn Device!" yelled Arika.

"Right..."

"Well," began Natsuki to speak, "if I understand things correctly, then all we have to do is destroy the Damn Device and the danger will be banished."

"Presumably," noted Yohko. "But unfortunately, we have no clue about the device's location."

"What?!" exclaimed the headmistress stunned. "It's not in that book of yours?"

"Uh, no," answered Midori. "The Book of Lot is rather... vague about that."

"So what does it say then?"

"Umm, well, you see..." Hemming and hawing, Midori looked nervously over to Yohko and back to the book in her hands. "The Book of Lot is more like a compiled collection of transcriptions of old chronicles and sagas, and umm, well..." She hemmed and hawed a bit more before continuing, "Oh well. It says:

"Only al 300 yeara, aet thaet tyme whan se folle mone shineth brightly in tha eighth hous of Aquarius, cann thaet Damn Deuice ben actiuatede and se secret ryte helde. Than tha Triangle of Prpl hath to ben broghte to thaet Sacrede Grotto of Otto locatede under se Dammit! I cann nat raedan thaet scribblynge! I wol bera thes scite no lenger, I quite!!!!!"

"What?! You have to be kidding!" uttered Natsuki, almost speechless.

"Unfortunately... not," mumbled Midori embarrassed.

"And you have no other transcriptions than that?"

Yohko sadly shook her head. "This is the most accurate version we know of. In the past, there have been several searches for more information about the triangle and the device, but in vain. This book is all we have. Sadly, because of its inaccuracy, the part with the triangle is nowadays completely omitted in the compilation."

"Hm," confirmed Shizuru with a slow nod. "I knew the saga about the defeat of the last Dragon Lord, but the existence of the triangle is something that is completely new to me."

"Eh?" Natsuki looked at her in surprise. "How come you knew about this stuff?"

The brunette chuckled softly and leaned over to her. "Because I know stuff," she said, lightly prodding the other's nose with the tip of her index finger.

Blushing and frowning, Natsuki rubbed her nose. "I told you not to do that in public," she mumbled, trying to sound more angry than she actually was.

"I'm sorry," answered Shizuru brightly and not looking sorry at all. "I just can't resist the cuteness of your nose."

"Ahem!" harrumphed Midori, the fingers of one hand impatiently tapping on the desk. "Can we please get back on topic? We have more important things to do than slobbering over the cuteness of Kruger's nose."

"What about Schwarz?" asked Nina, who had been silently listening all the time. "Do they know where the Damn Device is?"

"Maybe, maybe not," replied Midori vaguely. "We need to find that out, quickly."

"Well, no matter if they know or not," remarked Irina, "they can't do much before the specified time has come, right?"

Yohko tilted her head slightly, a pensive look on her face. "That's true, yes," she admitted. "The fact that the triangle and the Damn Device are quite useless until the moon is in the eight house of Aquarius gives us some time." Her expression became grave as she continued, "That does not mean, however, that we can afford to sit back and do nothing in the meantime; there are other, at least just as dreadful things we already have to deal with now. The peculiar nature of the moonlight that allows for the success of such a ritual is just one of the worrisome phenomena that seem to occur every 300 years. In the past, there have repeatedly been cumulative records of appearances of unknown entities at certain times, referred to as demons in lack of a better term. More thorough investigations revealed that those appearances more or less coincided with the time frame of the ritual, and also recent events strongly suggest that there is indeed a connection."

"Recent events?" asked Natsuki, puzzled.

Yohko nodded, and Shizuru explained, "When I was in the desert, searching for some ruins Yohko wanted me to search for, I was attacked by some mysterious shadow creature."

"What?" asked Natsuki aghast, turning to her. "Why didn't you tell me? Are you alright? Are you injured?" She took Shizuru's hands into her own again, the emerald eyes worried searching the other's face.

Slightly blushing, Shizuru looked down at the slender yet strong hands holding hers so tenderly. "I... I got hurt a bit," she whispered, sending up a hopeful glance.

"Where?" urged Natsuki to know in a husky voice, determined to kiss all pain away.

"In the desert," came a scornful remark from behind. "Didn't you pay attention, doggy?!"

"NAO!" With an angry cry, Natsuki shot around, her eyes piercing the obnoxious person lolling on a chair in the hind row. "What are you doing here?! How did you get here?!"

"Hun hun," hummed Nao complacently, drawing a nail file out of nowhere. "Hi-mi-tsu!" she said, coquettishly waving the file and with sinister delight noticing how Natsuki flinched away at its sight.

However, the smug grin on Nao's face vanished the very instant Shizuru set her hell gaze upon her. "Zhang-han, is it not?" asked the Graceful Amethyst sweetly, her lips turning into something that appeared to be a friendly smile. Her voice then took on a sepulchral tone as she switched the smile off again and continued, "I will not forgive those who hurt my Natsuki," the words emphasised by the Purple Aura of Doom™ materialising behind her.

"I just remembered I forgot to turn off the stove!" exclaimed Nao hastily and jumped to her feet, in record time darting to the door and out of the lab.

The bang of the door falling shut again tore Midori out of the slumber she had fallen into. Blinking, she slowly lifted her head from the open book, with a frown regarding the crease she had made into the pages by misusing it as pillow. After trying to smoothen the pages with rather doubtful success, she looked at the others, asking, "Where were we?"

"The Mysterious Shadow Creature!" yelled Arika.

"Right..."

"So what is this Mysterious Shadow Creature™?" asked Natsuki.

Midori's expression became uncertain for a moment before she suggested, "You know, I think we should not spill all the beans at once, let's keep some revelations for later chapters."

Natsuki frowned. "You have no idea what it is, haven't you?"

"I... um... well... I have no idea what it is."

Arika nodded eagerly. "That's why it's called _mysterious_."

"Well," spoke Shizuru, "maybe I can make it a bit more mysterious for you all. The creature was completely black, of human shape, but it had wings─"

"It was Batman!"

Shizuru turned to Arika. "No, I don't think so, there was no Robin." Looking ahead again, she continued, "But even though it was of human shape, it was definitely not human, or like any other living creature on this planet. It was as if it consisted of some weird kind of... dark matter. It was of the deepest black I have ever seen, black like the total absence of light, like... _nothing_, like something that ought not exist.

"The only thing that was not black, was the left eye─it was glowing red. And from that eye, it could shoot versatile laser beams that would fry, cook, bake, crush and sever anything they hit. Only with my weapon, I was able to deflect one of that beams, but I don't know how many sequential hits it would have been able to take.

"But what was strangest about this creature, was that it somehow seemed to be able to mimic my movements, completely adopting, sometimes even predicting them. There were moments where I thought I was fighting against my own shadow."

"Hm..." Midori looked at her pensively. "And you are sure it was not your own shadow?"

"Yes, my own shadow would never do such a thing as trying to kill me."

"Alright... And you think the creature is dangerous?"

"Yes."

"A threat to all humankind?"

"Yes."

"Undermining justice?"

"Yes."

"Planning to attack Tokyo?"

"Yes."

"Alright!" shouted Midori, energetically slamming her fist onto the table. Then she rose from her chair and struck a pose, with a pompous voice announcing, "We will form a special group of individuals with special abilities that will take on the Mysterious Shadow Creature™ and send it back home. And we will call them... Mysterious Shadow Creature Special Enforcers™, or short: MCSEs!"

"MCSEs?" Irina skeptically raised a brow. "Um... I think you're missing an 'S'... it should be MSCSEs, shouldn't it?"

Nonplussed, Midori looked at her for moment, before she slowly said, "You're right." She posed again, cleared her throat and declared pompously, "And we will call them... Mysterious Shadow Creature Special Enforcers™, or short: MSCSEs!"

"Or Pillars?" asked Shizuru.

"No, no, no!" dismissed Midori her proposal. "You can't use a boring name like that, it has to be a cool name, a strong name, with at least two words. Also, the name 'Pillar' is already taken." Just in that moment, the alarm of her watch set off, and after a glance at the time, she exclaimed, "But I have to go now or I'll miss today's episode of Flower Rangers."

This said, she hastily left the lab, even forgetting the Book of Lot on the desk.

Yohko got up from her chair and took it, suggesting, "Maybe we should end the meeting here?"

A collective "OK" was the answer and everyone rose, heading for the exit.

But before the group of students could leave, the headmistress took them aside, asking "You do understand that you have to maintain supreme secrecy about everything you have heard and seen today?"

"Rest assured," said Nina, "we won't tell anyone about the triangle."

"The triangle?" asked Natsuki puzzled. Then, after a moment of thinking, her face brightened up as if she had just had the idea of her life. "Oh yes! Also, tell no one about the triangle!" she exclaimed with a fey smile on her lips, evidently pleased with her own ingenuity.

Nina gave her a weird look and then the girls left, shortly after followed by Natsuki and Shizuru who were heading to the headmistress private quarters.

Once they got there, the Graceful Amethyst sighed, "Oh my, I feel so buttered."

"Battered, Shizuru-chan," corrected Natsuki.

They both froze, perplexed looking at each other.

"What... what just happened?" asked the raven-haired woman.

"I... I'm not sure," answered the brunette slowly. "Something weird is going on here."

"Yeah... retake?"

"Hm."

_RETAKE!_

"Oh my, I feel so battered," sighed the Graceful Amethyst.

"It was a long day for you, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Come, sit down," said Natsuki and led her over the couch, taking a seat beside her. "Um...," she started but then stopped again, hesitantly and worried looking at Shizuru.

"What's up?" asked the latter, now worried, too.

"There is also something else we have to talk about," said Miss Maria in a grave voice as they were sitting on her couch, and for a moment, Natsuki feared they had already discovered the hole she had accidently blasted into the coliseum wall the other day. But then the teacher continued, "From sources she would rather prefer to be left in the dark, Miss Yukariko gathered that one of our ex-students bugged your office and recorded all your phone calls."

"All our phone calls?" asked Shizuru aghast, the blood draining from her face.

"All our phone calls," confirmed Natsuki weakly.

"Also... _those_...?"

"Also those," mumbled the younger, avoiding her gaze.

"But why? Who would do such a thing?"

The elderly teacher seemed to ponder which of her questions to answer first, before she explained, "The ex-student we're talking about would be Tomoe Marguerite and it seems that, as part of her personal vendetta against you for expelling her, _and_ her strife for total world domination, your recorded phone calls are meant to be used to frame President Chrysant in the upcoming presidential elections in Aries."

"How's that supposed to work?" came Shizuru's skeptical objection.

"How am I supposed to know?!" countered Natsuki. "It's not my crazy, deluded plan!"

"All our phone calls," muttered the Graceful Amethyst, the graveness of the just learnt hitting her again, and the raven-haired woman watched anxiously how she got up and started to erratically pace around in the room.

"All our phone calls!" exclaimed the purple Otome, dramatically throwing her arms into the air. "How could that happen?! How come you didn't notice anything?!" she asked, turning to Natsuki again.

And under her upset gaze, the younger became more and more contrite, her posture that of a scolded puppy, eventually starting to cry, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know I'm completely useless," she uttered, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her coat, "but it's not my fault, I was just written this way!"

"I know, I know..." Lavender-clothed arms reached out and pulled her into a tight but tender embrace, and she thankfully buried her face in the other's neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you," mumbled the older Meister into her ear, gently stroking her back until her sobs finally subsided.

After a while, her hand idly playing with the dark-blue tresses, Shizuru said thoughtfully yet determined, "We're going to get the recordings back."

Natsuki shifted in her arms so that she could look at her. "How?" she asked meekly.

Her partner smiled and placed a peck on her cute little nose. "Somehow."

Solaced and endued with new hope, the raven-haired woman's expression brightened for a moment before it became worried again, and she tentatively asked, "You are aware that this is only a poor side plot?"

Shizuru let out a soft chuckle. "Yes," she whispered and leaned in to kiss her. "Does it matter?" she continued, resting the forehead against hers, the fingers lightly gliding up and down the nape of her neck.

A soft smile spread across Natsuki's features. "No," she breathed and kissed her back.


End file.
